Clamp for abrasion type testing apparatus



Feb. 8, 1955 ALLEN ET AL 2,701,466

CLAMP FOR ABRASION TYPE TESTING APPARATUS ori inal Filed Feb. 5, 1951 23 24 T -il T 56 l m7 KW m7 W n mgm 60 9 w Z9 I; 3/ 24 ag v -zz 49A Z4 Z3? 1N VEN TORS 05567 ,e. AAZf/V BY wafer J N0 var/w United States Patent CLAIVIP FOR ABRASION TYPE TESTING APPARATUS Robert R. Allen, Muskegon, Mich., and Robert J.

Novotny, Whippany, N. J., assignors to Custom Scientific Instruments, Inc., Arlington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Original application February 5, 1951, Serial No. 209,340.

Divided and this application September 29, 1952, Serial No. 312,106

6 Claims. (Cl. 73-7) This application is a division of our co-pending application Ser. No. 209,340 filed February 5, 1951 for a Fabric Testing Machine.

In said co-pending application a machine is described and claimed in which a fabric is tested for flat abrasion by being supported on a flexible resilient dome shaped base reciprocated below a weighted abrasion head which rests on the fabric. The number of reciprocations of the base is counted by a suitable counter driven by the base reciprocating mechanism. The base and head are connected in an electric circuit which is open when the head and base are separated by the test fabric until the fabric is worn through permitting contact between the base and the head to close the circuit which thereupon stops the reciprocation of the head. The number of re ciprocations required to wear through the fabric may then be read from the counter.

The present application relates to a base for supporting a selvage edge or a fold of the fabric in abrading contact with the abrasion head, the reciprocations of the base being counted, and contact being made between the base and abrasion head to stop the reciprocations as in the machine of said application Serial No. 209,340. Accordingly, the test may be made with accuracy and uniformity independently of the attentiveness of the test operator.

In the present invention the base is provided with a clamp in which the cloth is held in vertical or edgewise position to the abrasion head so that the selvage or a fold of the cloth is at a fixed distance above the contact terminal of the head. The fold may be either a free fold or the cloth may be folded over a supporting bar. The clamping elements are supported on the base so that the fabric edge may adjust itself to uniform contact and pressure of the abrasion head.

The various features of the invention are illustrated by} 1 way of example in the accompanying drawings, in w ich,

Pig. 1 is a perspective view of a fabric supporting base and clamping elements embodying our invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the clamping elements showing the clamping of a selvage;

Fig. 3 is a similar vertical section of the clamping elements clamping a free fold, and

Fig. 4 is a similar vertical section of the clamping elements clamping a fold over a bar.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the base is shown in Fig. 1 as a circular plate or disc mounted in the machine of application Ser. No. 209,340 so that it may reciprocate in the plane of its upper surface. The base may be of rectangular or other shape if desired to fit a modified arrangement of the reciprocating mechanism.

Extending upwardly from the plate 10 is a projection 11 having parallel faces at right angles to the path of reciprocation and provided with a pivot pin 12 projecting front and rear from the mid point of the projection. A bolster 13 is provided with a vertical slot 14 to receive the projection 11 and with openings transverse to said slot to receive the projecting portions of the pivot pin 12. The bolster extends equally on opposite sides of the pivot pin 12 and may tilt to a limited extent thereon to equalize the pressure of the abrasion head. The bolster is guided and supported at its opposite ends in spaced vertical recessed guides 15 and 16 extending upwardly from said base plate 10. The bolster is provided with a pair of upright supporting pins 17 and 18, one pin being located between the slot 15 andone end of the bolster and the other pin being located between the slot 15 and the other end of the bolster.

The clamp for clamping the fabric to be tested comprises a bar 19 provided near its opposite ends with vertical holes 20 and 21 to receive the pins 17 and 18. The bar 19 is removably supported on the bolster by inserting the pins 17 and 18 in the holes 20 and 21 and permitting the bar to rest on the upper surface of the bolster. The vertical faces of the bar are then preferably in the same plane as the vertical faces of the bolster and the bolster and bar form a unitary clamp structure.

The bar is narrowed between its ends to form a vertical web 22 having a longitudinal horizontal slot 23. A clamping plate 24 is pivoted near one end on a pivot pin 25 projecting forwardly from the vertical face of the bar 19 so that it may swing free of the bar as shown in Fig. 1 or may swing into alignment with the front face of the bar with its upper edge even with the upper edge of the bar. When thus in alignment a slot 26 of the plate receives a pin or screw 27 in the bar so that the plate may be tightened against a fabric placed between the bar and the plate. Fabric to be tested is clamped in the manner and position shown in Figs. 2, 3 or 4.

As shown in Fig. 2, a fabric 28 is clamped between the bar 19 and the plate 24 with its selvage projecting above the bar a distance equal to the selvage. An abrasion head 29 rests on the selvage with a predetermined weight or pressure. The base is then reciprocated transversely to the selvage until the selvage is worn away by the abrasion head which descends proportionately until contact is made either directly between the bar and abrasion head or by contact carried by the head and the bar or base as described in application Serial No. 209,340. The machine then stops and the number of reciprocations may be taken from the counter.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 3 a fabric 30 is folded double and clamped in a manner similar to that of Fig. 2 and abraded in similar manner.

In the example of Fig. 4 a fabric 31 is passed through the horizontal slot 23 thence over the upper edge and then downwardly past the front face of the web 22 and clamped in position by the plate 24 and abraded in the same manner as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. This tests the wearing quality of the fabric as a covering of a rigid surface or edge.

Having described our invention, what we' claim is:

1. In a fabric testing machine, a base reciprocable in a horizontal direction having a projection with parallel faces at right angles to the plane of the base and to the direction of reciprocation, a bolster having a vertical slot to receive said projection, a pivot pin extending through said bolster and projection in the path of reciprocation to enable said bolster to rock in a plane transverse to the direction of reciprocation, a pair of spaced pins projecting upwardly from said bolster one pin being located between said vertical slot and one end of the bolster and the other pin being located between the vertical slot and the other end of the bolster and a clamping bar resting on said bolster and having spaced holes to receive said pins and a clamping plate secured to a face of said bar transverse to the direction of reciprocation.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said clamping bar is narrowed between said pin-receiving holes to form a vertical web.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said clamping bar is narrowed between said pin-receiving holes and has a horizontal slot at said narrowed part.

4. In a fabric testing machine, a base reciprocable in a horizontal direction, a clamping bar extending at right angles to the direction of reciprocation of said base and pivotally mounted on said base to rock in a vertical plane, and a clamping plate to clamp a fabric to a vertical face of said bar transverse to said direction of reciprocation.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 which comprises a supporting bolster pivotally mounted on said base to rock in a vertical plane transverse to the direction of reciprocatioii and in which said clamping plate is mounted on said b0 ster.

6. The apparatus of claim' 5 having supporting guides 1,097,802 Hemming May 26, 1914 on said base at the opposite ends of said bolster. 2,251,681 Hathaway et a1. Aug. 5, 1941 2,293,084 Sedam ;';;;;Atigj'lS, 1942 References Cited in the file of this patent 2,422,773 Colwill June 24, 1947 5 2,635,313 Levine Apr. 21, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENTS 508,732 Mason, Jr. Nov. 14, 1893 

